Mariam Sabet

Partner

Biography

Mariam is a Fulbright Scholar and Partner in the Dubai office and a member of the Competition and Antitrust as well as the Intellectual Property practice.

She specializes in antitrust and regulatory aspects of global M&A transactions covering the Middle East and handles complex multijurisdictional competition matters and has advised leading companies in a broad range of sectors. She advised numerous international and local clients covering various aspects of the UAE Competition Law including without limitation: (i) restrictive agreements; (ii) abuse of dominant positions; and (iii) merger controls and approvals; (iv) retail pricing guidelines; and (v) guidelines in dealing with competitors and various other materials related to UAE Competition Law compliance.

Furthermore, Mariam has a vast experience working on broad range of both contentious and non-contentious IP matters. She advises local and international clients on the protection of their IP and has assisted in building and developing their brands and copyright portfolio, through managing their IP portfolio and advising them throughout the appropriate usages and enforcement of their rights. Mariam’s particular strength is her ability to manage complex cross-jurisdictional IP disputes and has extensive experience in devising optimal litigation strategies for international clients particularly those arising out of contractual disputes. Mariam has extensive experience in handling domain name disputes and online infringements in various sectors.

Mariam was recognized by Asian Legal Business among the top 15 female practitioners in Asia.

She has built an impressive global network and is a member of the IBA-Merger Control working group and Anti-Trust section of the ABA. Mariam has been invited to speak in IBA’s prestigious anti-trust/competition conference in Florence this September 2024 and will be representing Middle East and Africa.

In addition, Mariam advises on consumer protection matters and advised clients on warranty regulations, product recalls and supplier/manufacturer obligations. In addition, Mariam successfully defended a major international travel company from a consumer protection complaint.

Recent Experience

Advised Uber Technologies on the merger control aspects of its US$ 3.1 billion acquisition of Careem (the largest ride sharing provider in the Middle East). This was UAE’s first merger filing.
Advised private equity firm Blackstone on the merger control aspects of its $1.87 billion acquisition of 75% per cent stake in VFS Global.
Advised ITIS Holding (PPF Group) on the merger control aspect of its acquisition of Vitronic Group.
Successfully handled a multi-jurisdictional trademark dispute on behalf of a major international brand arising out of the termination of a long term contractual relationship linked to a parallel NY arbitration proceeding bridging the gap between the different common law and civil law concepts.
Successfully leading a major anti-piracy software project in UAE, Egypt and KSA on behalf of a major French software company.
Successfully engaging in ticketing enforcement for major sports tournament.